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Astarath - a bit of help?

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Rimbaum
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:32 pm


Okay, so the original idea for this world was inspired by a song (kudos to anyone who can guess which one!). All I ever did with it was write a very short scene that established a few rules about the planet.

Quote:
All eyes in the city turned towards the sky. For the first time in many people's lives, a natural phenomenon was occurring; something that was considered strange even by the original colonists of their planet. The sun was setting - for the first time in nearly 100 years.

Astarath was the only city on the planet that could support human life; all the others were under the oceans that covered nearly all of the planet's surface and supplied the massive city with many of its needs. So, as the sun began to set of the next several weeks, many people looked out at the oceans for the spectacular sight.

When darkness fell, it was total. Small children began to cry, their primal fear of the dark enhanced by the fact that none of them knew what nighttime truly was. Parents did what they could to comfort their children, but they honestly didn't know what to do themselves.

In the last century, humans had grown accustomed to an dependent on the never-ending sunlight. Solar panels graced every building, supplying them with a reliable power source. But now... they were useless. After all, they wouldn't see the sun again for another hundred years.


I suppose the problems I'm having here are... what keeps the night side from freezing solid? Where should I go, plotwise? And what kind of impacts would the 100-year night have on society? This isn't a serious writing project, and I started on it a few years ago. I guess it's more something I do for fun, and I'd appreciate any input on it.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:01 am


Oceanic currents, on Earth, get warmed up at the equator and flow upwards toward the colder regions of the planet. That's primarily how the night side on my planet doesn't get frozen over-- The water is heated up by the never ending sunlight, and it moves in a current to colder regions. This keeps the snow levels from reaching maximum height over there. The inhabitants of the night side get light from the moon (which yours may or may not have) and bioluminescent bacteria. They also live next to a volcanoes.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:55 pm


Water and air currents would keep the night side relatively warm.

Yanno. For sunless rock.

A society that dwelled entirely in night would probably begin to discard dependence on sight. Color itself would probably become less important, although light could become defense, if they have this as a latent ability (hahahaha)--many bioluminescent things can flare "brightly" to blind their deep-sea predators, although it just makes them easier for us to spot.

Scent, hearing, and touch would become more vital parts of social behavior, as well as becoming more nessesary for navigation.

Not sure about anything else, though. I'm assuming no moon (or a distant, sooty moon) because of the "total darkness" thing, but they could just be very used to the brightness of their parent star, and they just can't see the other objects in the night sky immediately.
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